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How to Get the Best Blowout for Any Kind of Hair

Fresh-from-the-salon hair doesn't have to be a splurge reserved for special occasions. Become the boss of your blow-dryer with these easy techniques.

Short and Brush-free Blowout: Best for shoulder-to chin-length bobs.

Prep:
• Prime: To ready your hair for a brushless blowout—as stylists call it—use a volumizing mousse, which plumps up strands, adds lift at the roots and provides control. Apply a small dollop and comb from roots to ends.

• Rough Dry: Part your hair down by one ear and flip hair to opposite side of head. Hold the dryer's nozzle close to roots and focus the airflow up toward the flipped hair, using your other hand to lift and tug it. That wicks away water and keeps strands from falling flat. Repeat in 1-inch sections, reversing the flip when you reach your natural part.

• Section Strands: Create a Mohawk-like area by pulling hair back from eyebrow to eyebrow toward the crown. Twist and secure with a clip.

Style:
• Shape Hair: The trick is to use your free hand like a brush and the airflow from the dryer as a guide. Hold the dryer behind your head, aim the airflow forward and pull strands in the same direction. Repeat on the opposite side. Next, begin working on the Mohawk area: Grab and hold up a 1-inch section (starting in the back) with your free hand and aim the blow-dryer from behind, blasting hair from roots to tips. Continue throughout the section, letting hair fall into its natural part as you go. When finished, blow entire section toward the chin. For the back of the head, aim the air down and finger-comb hair until dry.

• Polish Ends: Twist chunks of hair in various sizes around your fingers and blast with heat to create movement.

Finish:
• Hold it: Scrunch a soft, creamy pomade into ends for staying power and that piecey, slept-on texture.